YONKERS - Mayor Mike Spano unveiled the city's final design for a new downtown firehouse.

The estimated $15 million Station 1 firehouse near the corner of Palisade Avenue and New School Street will include four firetruck bays, a bell tower and underground parking. The clean-up of contamination on the property is finished and construction of the building is expected to begin in mid-2018.

"This firehouse is very, very important because it will service the needs of this part of Yonkers, a part that will traditionally have more fires than any other part of Yonkers," Spano said Thursday at the site of the new firehouse.

The new firehouse will sit in the oldest part of the city, where there are many older, wood-frame residences.

The new firehouse will replace the former fire headquarters and Fire Station 1 at 5-7 New School St. Fire Station 1 suffered from neglect and inadequate maintenance over the years.

In June 2015, engineers discovered cracks in the parapet and in exterior walls, forcing an evacuation and condemnation. Today, Fire Station 1 sits fenced off and the sidewalk in front of it is closed to pedestrians to avoid injuries from falling bricks or other materials.

The new firehouse will sit next to the Engine Lot #10 parking lot between Palisade Avenue and John Street. Part of the property adjacent to the new firehouse site and the parking lot will remain green space, city officials said.

The former firehouse and fire headquarters will be demolished, though city officials could not offer a timetable for that project.

The new firehouse is not expected to affect proposals sought for the nearby Chicken Island parking lot.

The new firehouse will also contain historical elements from the old fire headquarters across the street and a bell tower housing bells from the former St. Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church, which was destroyed in a fire.